This invention relates to interactive communications, and more particularly, to a method for providing enhanced persistent communications.
One of the more beneficial aspects of the Internet, aside from the vast array of information and content sources it provides, is the varied and newfound ways people can now communicate and stay in touch with one another. Users all around the world, or even just around the corner, may now communicate in a relatively low cost and efficient manner via a myriad of Internet facilities including electronic mail, chat rooms, message boards, instant messaging and video tele-conferencing.
These methods of communication offer distinct advantages over standard communicative methods such as paper based mail and conventional telephone calls. For example, facilities like electronic mail are typically considerable faster and cheaper than these conventional methods of communication. Rapidly escalating in popularity is instant messaging which offers more “interactive-type” of communication since the participants in an instant messaging conversation are online simultaneously.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) or, simply “chat” provides informal communications among users of data network facilities. Chat allows two or more users to converse by exchanging text messages, typically through a “channel” or virtual “chat room” maintained on one or more chat servers and accessed via an on-line service or using general purpose chat “client” software executing at a user terminal, workstation or personal computer. Only chat “participants” connected (typically through a telephone line modem) to the on-line service or other chat environment provided by one or more chat servers, can take part in the chat. Chat room “conversations” are displayed as text in a chat room window on a participant's display screen, usually accompanied by a list of chat participants. The text displayed at a participant's terminal usually includes a history of the conversation from the time that the viewing participant joined the chat room. Entering particular chat rooms is typically effected using a list or menu of currently available chat rooms. Exiting a chat room is usually as simple as closing the chat window. Extensions of the basic chat model of communications permit use of voice (or other audio), video and other message content.
Instant messaging (IM) allows users to be aware of the “presence” of others (usually friends or colleagues) and to send short messages back and forth to those who are present (i.e., logged into the IM server). This creates a communication channel that lends itself to shorter, more intimate, less formal conversation than email. The growth rate in IM use has been dramatic and usage is that of approaching email. When two people are communicating through an IM session there utterances are recorded in sequence in the IM session window. However, when the session is ended the utterances disappear (although they may be archived). If a message is sent to a “buddy” who is no longer logged into the IM server, then either the message is rejected (“<Person's name> is no longer available”), or saved and sent at a latter time when the other person is logged in. However, the next time the two talk to each other, a new session window is created. Also, if the other person does not log out but leaves for the day (from work) the message will be added to their current IM session. When that person logs in (at home) the new messages will not appear in their new IM session.
However, one significant problem with instant messaging, as compared to electronic mail, is that no saved record of an instant messaging conversation is available once the instant messaging conversation terminates. For example, once an instant messaging window is closed, the conversations contained therein are lost. It is conceivable that some users may take manual measures to save or archive their conversations, for example, by copy and pasting the text of their conversation into a word processor and saving the conversation in the word processor format. However, this technique and other existing techniques for saving or logging instant messaging conversations are both cumbersome and time consuming. Furthermore, saving instant messaging conversations in this prior art manner results in the user having to maintain separate repositories for these saved instant messaging conversations which places the burden on the user to both remember whether such conversations have actually been saved and in what location they have been saved.
Instant messaging has an additional benefit since it effectively blurs the distinction between synchronous and asynchronous communication. An IM message can be replied to immediately, thereby establishing a near real time conversation, or it can be replied to at a latter time. The user experience can be thought of as a private communication channel or whiteboard between two people, in which they can chat with one another. Users tend to perceive IM as a much “lighter-weight” form of communication than e-mail: It is more easily accessed, messages are more easily exchanged, and it lends itself to short informal communications (an original goal of email). However, email is clearly preferred for long detailed messages and for important messages. The reason for this is in part the persistence of email, and the mostly ephemeral character of IMs.
Currently, closing an IM session can delete all of the messages exchanged in the session (although many IM applications offer archiving). However, in most IM applications, logging in from any device (PCs or PDAs, typically) will announce the availability of a subscriber and an IM session can be re-established. If the subscriber is not logged in (i.e., unavailable) the sender will be informed that the recipient is unavailable, and the message will not be sent. In such situations, the sender can re-send the message as email or wait until the subscriber is available. Unlike most IM applications, however, ICQ will preserve an IM message until it can be sent to its recipient. When logging in, the recipient is notified of pending messages.
There is another interesting trend in personalization of communications: an increasing number of Internet users are creating personal websites, some of which detect the presence of visitors and some of which have chat rooms. Taken together, the popularity of IM, the above limitations of current IM technology and the trend in personal websites suggest a new type of communication model in which two users (buddies) should be able to establish a permanent communication session or channel.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a system and method for communicating in a persistent environment which combines the benefits of existing communication methods like instant messaging and personal web pages.